WARNING to all DISH NETWORK Users!

This is not something I normally do....but if you have satellite..... YOU NEED TO READ THIS!

In June lightning struck our house. I was sitting in the living room watching TV when it happened. In a flash I literally saw a streak come into the window, hit our screen (we have a HD projector and a motorized screen), travel across the chasis of the screen, down the power cable, and into the wall. (No hearing for about 30 minutes, but otherwise everyone was OK.)

We started to immediately make calls to insurance company, satellite provider, etc.......

DISH NETWORK - We asked if we needed to put it on our insurance claim. They said.... "NO. It is covered under your service and warranty. We will send you a new box. Just send us the old one back. All at NO CHARGE."

Insurance - Paid for everything (minus deductible of course).

We have been very happy with DISH Network for right at 2 years. They sent a new box and everything was great. Our monthly bill is on an auto draft from a checking account. Usually $100 per month.

TODAY....... MID AUGUST:
-My wife calls to tell me that DISH has drafted $458.00 from our account.
-I IMMEDIATELY call DISH and told my story. I was put on hold for about 45 minutes and finally spoke to someone in the "Executive blah, blah department.

- It started off promising. The first thing she did was give me her name and direct number for future reference.
- Then she DROPPED THE BOMB...............
- She informed me that we had been charged $358 for the box we returned because they looked at it and decided that ....... ARE YOU READY FOR THIS???????.......

THE FAILURE WAS NOT CAUSED BY LIGHTNING, BUT RATHER.......... (I swear I am not making this up)..... INSECT INFESTATION!

Now, do we claim to be neat freaks, or the cleanest people in the world....NO! But "insect infestation" in a satallite box in my friggin' living room!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!
We have dogs, and in 8 years I have never even seen a flea in my house.

I tried to calmly explain that it was impossible. The box was working at the moment the lightning struck....I know....I was there!!!!!!!
She didn't care and informed me that they money would NOT be returned to my account.
I tried the nice route, then I tried the other. I never used profanity or threatened anything other than to move to Direct TV. I did tell her that this was a rip off and that they seemed to be using this as an excuse to take $350 from us.

FAIL! I asked to speak to a supervisor and she informed me that none of them were available. She could not give me a time when they would be, only that I could call her number that she gave me back to see.
I asked if I would talk directly to her again and she informed me that it would go to her voice mail. I could leave a message for her and she would call me back anywhere from 48 to 72 hours later.

Here's the kicker...... I tried her number 15 minutes later..... the message was... "I'm sorry. The person you are trying to reach has a full mailbox. You CAN NOT leave a message at this time."

This is possibly the biggest rip off I have ever witnessed. Not only have they taken money from my account, but they have completely stonewalled me from even talking to anyone else. This may be the maddest I have ever been in my life!!!!!!

while I feel your pain, you should have, and still should, filed it with the insurance company.

I have been a Dish customer since like 96 or something, anyways over a decade now. There have been issues of course, but nothing like this. Usually small billing issues when I change service or equiptment or something. Worst I can remember was when I leased a top of the line DVR for some reason, then when I returned it they billed me for an additional month, then when I complained about that they decided I never returned it ...
anyways they finally decided I did return the machine and credited my account for the over billing.

Anyways good luck getting the money back and seriously I would refile the insurance claim if possible. Heck you already paid the deductible so there is no harm in asking.

That completely sucks. I'd consider threatening to file against them in small claims court and see if that gets their attention...

But it's not such an abnormal practice, unfortunately. Companies, especially the big ones, lie about things like that all the time to make a buck. For example, my grandmother had termite damage a few years ago and Terminix tried to claim that it was water damage. This despite the termites found living in the wall...

in a situation like this I would have taken pics of any units shipped back to leasing agents (Dish), since the unit is already damaged, there wouldn't be any harm in popping off the lid to see if it had indeed blown a transformer/cap/etc..

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